


Mistletoe Kisses

by IBoatedHere



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Christmas, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Mistletoe, So many kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 15:25:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9277976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IBoatedHere/pseuds/IBoatedHere
Summary: Shitty hangs the mistletoe in the entryway to the kitchen and it feels like a personal attack.





	

Shitty hangs the mistletoe in the entryway to the kitchen and it feels like a personal attack.

“What is this?” Lardo asks as she stands on her toes and stretches her arm all the way up. Her fingertips barely brush it.

“Mistletoe, brah,” Shitty says as he jams another cookie into his mouth. “Isn’t it obvious?”

She shrugs and Bitty waits until she’s all the way through the door to enter and even then he hops through it.

“What is it doing here?” Bitty asks.

“Team bonding,” Shitty mumbles. “Christmas cheer and all that shit.”

“Team bonding?” He watches as Shitty plunks down right across Jack’s lap and throws an arm around his shoulders. Jack doesn’t throw him off. “Don’t you think we’re bonded enough?”

“No such thing as being too bonded, Bitty.”

Bitty hums and eyes the mistletoe above the door.

“Kiss!” Shitty yells and Bitty jumps. Ransom and Holster are standing in the doorway. “You two gotta-.”

Holster ducks down and kisses Ransom before Shitty even finishes the sentence and they both walk into the kitchen and grab frosted cookies like it was no big deal.

“Well,” Shitty says as he holds out a fist for Holster to bump out of respect. “I hope everyone is that easy.”

*******

In the weeks leading up to Winter Break Bitty bakes and frosts more Christmas cookies than he can count. He also sees more of his teammates making out with each other than he ever thought possible.

Shitty maintains constant vigilance in the kitchen to make sure the mistletoe tradition is respected.

Ransom and Holster get stuck beneath it several times.

Dex is passive, to the surprise of everyone, as Holster puts both hands on the side of his face and brings him in for a quick peck.

He does however blush bright red when Nursey reels him in by the collar of his shirt and kisses him until people start to whistle.

Bitty watches Lardo and Jack.

Jack and Holster.

Holster and Nursey.

Nursey and Chowder.

Chowder and Dex.

Shitty and _everyone_ when he uses the wafting smell of cooling pie to his advantage and picks them off one by one.

“Way too much tongue, Shitty,” Jack says after he pushes him away.

“I haven’t gotten any complaints.”

“That was me complaining.”

Shitty waves him off and takes a seat at the table and Jack wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and rests his hip against the counter next to Bitty.

Bitty wordlessly hands him a cookie decorated like a reindeer and Jack smiles in thanks.

*****

Bitty ends up kissing Holster on Saturday morning.

Holster is still sleepy and Bitty has pancakes on the brain and they pass each other in the doorway without even thinking about the mistletoe.

“Kiss!” Shitty yells from the couch and Bitty has no time to react before Holster is bending down (way down) and kissing him.

Then he’s ruffling his hair, stepping away, and heading back up the stairs.

“A’tta boy, Bits.” Shitty is hanging over the back of the couch. “You know you were the last hold out. Everyone else on the team has swapped massive amounts of spit.”

“Gross,” Lardo says. She must be on the couch too.

“You make it sound so romantic, Shitty,” Bitty tells him as he pulls a skillet out of the oven.

******

He kisses Chowder. Then Nursey. Then Chowder again. 

Chowder is sweet, just a peck on the lips.

Nursey elbows him out of the way and tells him to _‘c’mon, kiss him like you mean it’_ and kisses him like he kissed Dex.

Bitty doesn’t have time to catch his breath after Nursey lets him go because Chowder is immediately crowding him against the wall and kissing him again.

All Bitty can hear is laughter and Chowder asking him if that was any better.

Bitty pats his head and assures him that it was.

“But who was the better kisser?” Nursey asks.

“No comment.”

That sets everyone off into a fresh round of laughter.

Except for Jack. He’s quiet, which isn’t unusual but when Bitty catches his eye he looks down at his plate. Bitty thought they were past that.

He doesn’t have much time to dwell on it because Shitty stands up so abruptly his chair falls over.

“Get over here, Bits, I’ll show you what it’s like to be really kissed.”

Someone yells something about a mustache ride and Bitty is shrieking and laughing all the way up the stairs.

******

Bitty loses track of time while studying and the oven timer going off catches him by surprise.

Betsy has been real temperamental lately so Bitty has to fly down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Jack catches him by the shoulders right before Bitty slams into him.

“I took your pie out of the oven, Bittle. I was afraid it was going to burn.”

“Jack, you’re my hero.”

“Ha…it wasn’t a big deal.”

“A burnt pie probably would have ruined Christmas so….are you going to let me in the kitchen?”

“What?”

“You’re in the doorway and I can’t walk through with you standing there or else we’ll both be under the mistletoe so….”

“Kiss you guys! Kiss!” Shitty yells from the top of the stairs. “You two are the only ones that haven’t kissed each other and we’re running out of time.”

“I’m not under the mistletoe, Shitty,” Bitty sing-songs.

“Take two steps forward and you will be,” Shitty sings back.

“That’s not how it works.”

“Suck face, goddammit.”

“He’s never going to stop, Bittle,” Jack says. “We can just do it if you want. It’s not a big deal. It’s just mistletoe.”

He’s right. It’s just mistletoe when it’s Chowder or Nursey or Holster but with Jack, Bitty wants it to be more. 

“Bittle,” Jack says gently. He reaches out like he wants to touch him but Bitty flinches and he drops his hand. “We don’t have to. It’s okay.”

“Don’t chicken, out, Bits.”

“Shitty,” Jack snaps, “leave him alone.”

“But it’s just you two!”

“Shitty, I said leave it. Bittle,” his voice is a lot quieter, like it is on the ice during checking practice and Bitty goes down hard. “You okay?”

He nods. “Thank you for taking my pie out, Jack. That was really nice of you. I have to get back to studying.” He turns on his heels and runs back up the stairs.

*******

Bitty’s packaging up cookies for everyone to take home with them.

It’s late and the Haus is quiet as he puts six cookies into every bag and ties them with a red ribbon.

Bitty looks up to see if it’s still snowing and startles when he sees Jack’s reflection behind him.

He drops one of the cookies. The snowman’s head breaks clean off.

“Jack! I didn’t know you were up.”

Jack looks sleepy and warm in flannel bottoms and his Samwell sweatshirt.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“I didn’t even hear you come down the stairs. You’re quiet as a mouse when you want to be.”

“You were pretty wrapped up in what you were doing.”

“I want to get these done before people start leaving. Can I get you something to help you get back to sleep? I can make you some tea.”

“I actually came down here to apologize for earlier. You know.” He points up at the mistletoe. “About that.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Jack.”

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Neither did Shitty. He was just messing around and if he really thought you didn’t want to kiss me he wouldn’t have said anything. He knows he can’t make you do it.”

Bitty laughs but it only makes Jack frown. “You think I don’t want to kiss you?”

“You kissed everyone else. I mean. It’s okay. I get it.”

“You get it?”

Jack stares down at his bare feet . “If I’m not your type that’s fine.”

“Jack, honey, I think you’re just about everyone’s type.”

“But you didn’t want to kiss me.”

Bitty turns back around. It’ll be easier to tell the truth without looking at him.

“Not like that. Not in front of everyone. Every time I think about our first kiss it’s never like that.”

“You think about our first kiss?”

“Yes,” Bitty says because why not be honest. They'rel leaving for winter break so they’ll have time to cool off when this blows up in his face. “I think about it and it’s never because you feel obligated to. It’s not a joke. It’s because you want to.”

Jack is very quiet and when Bitty dares to glance up at the window to see his reflection there’s a crooked smile on his face.

“Bittle. Bitty.”

Bitty’s breath catches as he watches Jack extend a hand.

“C’mere,” he murmurs, so soft and gentle that Bitty’s drawn to him and across the floor to him without even realizing it. “No one’s around,” Jack says as their fingers lace together. “No one is making me do this. It’s not a joke.”

“Jack,” Bitty says and then Jack’s free hand is cupping his jaw and bringing their lips together.

It’s a slow slide. Better than he thought was possible. The rest of the boys have nothing on Jack and he’ll be happy to tell them so the first chance he gets.

Christmas is days away. It’s snowing out. There are twinkly lights haphazardly wrapped around the banister creating a soft glow and Jack Zimmermann is kissing him.

He couldn’t plan a more perfect moment.

Jack sighs towards the end of the kiss but doesn’t let him go. He keeps their hands linked together and rests his forehead against Bitty’s.

“Merry Christmas, Bits.”

Bitty laughs at the simplicity of it.

“Merry Christmas, Jack.”


End file.
